THE  SUPERIORITY  OF  THE 
CHRISTIAN  RELIGION. 


if 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 

AUG  1  n  1915 

PRESIDENT’S  OFFICE 


THE  SUPERIORITY  OF  THE 
CHRISTIAN  RELIGION. 


A  BACCALAUREATE  SERMON, 


By  Wm.  C.  Roberts,  d.  d.,  l.l.  d. 

PRESIDENT  OF  LAKE  FOREST  UNIVERSITY. 


DELIVERED  AT  LAKE  FOREST,  ILLINOIS, 
JUNE  23,  1S89. 


PUBLISHED  BY  REQUEST. 


•  Craig  •  |)re2b  • 

77  St  79  Jackson  $ftvtet, 
C§icaao 


THE  SUPERIORITY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION. 


“Seek  him  that  maketh  the  seven  stars  and  Orion.’’— Amos  5:8. 

This  exhortation  suggests  much  that  is  interesting  to  the 
historian,  the  astronomer  and  the  Christian.  The  beauty  of 
the  constellations  here  named  has  been  celebrated  in  classic 
myth  and  ancient  legend.  The  risings  and  settings  of  the  seven 
stars  are  said  to  have  been  observed  by  the  priests  of  Belus 
more  than  thirty-five  hundred  years  ago.  The  name  Pleiades, 
given  them  in  the  revised  version,  was  formerly  derived  from  a 
word  meaning  “  to  sail,”  because  they  were  supposed  to  mark 
the  safe  time  for  ships  to  go  out  of  port;  and  that  of  Vergiliae, 
from  “  ver,”  the  spring,  because  it  was  believed  that  they  intro¬ 
duced  the  mild,  vernal  season  favorable  to  farming  and  other 
pastoral  employments. 

Orion  is  the  most  magnificent  group  of  stars  known  to  the 
astronomer.  Its  form  is  familiar  to  all  who  have  studied  the 
appearance  and  relative  positions  of  the  heavenly  bodies.  It 
was  pictured  by  the  ancients  as  a  huge  giant  who  had  warred 
against  God,  for  which  he  was  bound  with  adamantine  chains 
to  a  fixed  point  in  the  sky.  This  tradition  has  been  associated 
in  some  way  with  the  history  of  Nimrod,  who  is  supposed  to 
have  instigated  the  descendants  of  Noah  to  build  the  Tower  of 
Babel. 

The  astronomical  allusions  in  the  text  are  full  of  interest. 
The  word  Pleiades  is  derived  from  the  Chaldee  “Chimah,” 
which  means  the  hinge  around  which  a  body  revolves.  Not 
supposing  that  Job  had  any  astronomical  knowledge,  his  use  of 
the  term  furnished  no  clew  to  the  better  understanding  of  the 
stars.  Still,  in  later  years,  astronomers,  without  reference  to 
the  word  “chimah,”  have  decided  that  the  constellation  known 


4 


as  the  Pleiades  is  the  veritable  point  round  which  the  solar 
system  revolves.  Within  the  memory  of  men  still  living,  the 
world  was  startled  by  the  announcement  of  Professor  Madler, 
that  Alcyone,  the  brightest  of  the  seven  stars,  was  the  luminous 
hinge  round  which  our  sun  and  his  attendant  planets  revolve. 
The  correctness  of  this  statement  has  been  questioned,  but  it 
has  not  yet  been  proved  untrue. 

These  constellations  have  a  still  greater  interest  to  the  Christ¬ 
ian.  He  sees  in  them  the  visible  displays  of  his  Father’s 
power  and  godhead.  It  requires  no  special  stretch  of  the  imag¬ 
ination  to  discover  in  the  allusion  to  the  Pleiades  the  germ  of 
one  of  the  grandest  astronomical  discoveries  of  modern  times — 
a  germ  that  had  lain  dormant  for  ages,  but  was  at  last  brought 
out  of  its  long  concealment  by  the  efforts  of  astronomers. 
u  There  are  glories  in  the  Bible,”  says  an  eminent  professor, 
“on  which  the  eye  of  man  has  not  gazed  sufficiently  long  to 
admire  them;  there  are  difficulties,  the  depth  and  inwardness  of 
which  require  a  measure  of  the  same  qualities  in  the  interpreter 
himself.  There  are  notes  struck  in  places,  which,  like  some 
discoveries  of  science,  have  sounded  before  their  time,  and  only, 
after  many  days,  have  been  caught  up  and  have  found  a  response 
on  the  earth.”  If  it  be  true  that  one  of  the  group  of  stars 
described  in  the  text  is  the  center  of  the  solar  system,  we  are 
furnished  with  a  striking  example  of  the  harmony  existing 
between  the  teachings  of  Scripture  and  the  discoveries  of  science. 

The  theme  to  which  I  call  your  attention  is, 

THE  SUPERIORITY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION. 

This  is  seen,  first,  in  the  character  of  its  object  of  worship. 
Setting  aside  nature,  which  is  frequently  deified,  there  have 
been  but  ten  great  religions  in  the  world.  These  have  urged 
upon  men  their  different  objects  of  worship.  That  known  as 
Fetichism  offers  almost  every  material  thing,  not  because  it 
holds  that  everything  is  divine,  but  because  it  believes  that  a 
supernatural  influence  proceeds  from  it.  The  old  Egyptian 
religion  had  for  its  object  of  worship  a  being  which  it  regarded 


5 


as  supreme,  but  which  is  set  forth  as  subject  to  hunger,  thirst, 
disease,  and  old  age.  It  is  of  no  importance  what  may  have 
been  the  object  of  the  religion  of  Zoroaster,  for  it  is  dead;  its 
dualism,  or  two  uncreated  principles  have  long  since  passed 
away.  Brahminism,  whilst  it  assures  its  votaries  that  their  god 
fills  heaven  and  earth,  describes  him  as  far  off — too  distant  to 
be  worshiped  by  the  most  favored  of  mortals.  The  funda¬ 
mental  principle  of  Buddhism  is,  that  there  is  a  supreme  power, 
but  no  Supreme  Being.  The  mythology  of  the  Greeks  was 
intended  to  meet  the  soul’s  demand  for  an  object  of  worship; 
but  the  philosophers,  pained  with  prying  into  a  voiceless  and 
unwritten  sky,  turned  the  eyes  of  their  countrymen  to  art  and 
the  works  of  men’s  hands.  The  gods  of  our  Norsemen  fore¬ 
fathers  became  at  last  the  personified  powers  and  phenomena  of 
nature.  The  followers  of  Confucius  pay  their  supreme  homage 
to  the  shades  of  their  ancestors,  and  the  devotees  to  the  false 
prophet  bow  to  an  apotheosis  of  pure  will  possessing  neither 
love  nor  sympathy.  All  these  are  vague  abstractions  and 
intangible  realities.  The  object  of  the  Christian  religion  is  set 
forth  in  the  text  as  the  maker  of  “  the  seven  stars  and  Orion.” 
Here  is  attributed  to  him  personality.  God  is  nowhere  set 
forth  in  the  Bible  as  the  mysterious,  “  It,”  but  always  as  the 
ever  living  “  He.”  It  brings  him  down  from  the  clouds  and 
represents  him  as  walking  with  men.  Every  page  of  Scripture 
glows  with  the  personality  of  the  Supreme  Being.  This 
causes  the  Christian  to  feel  that  he  is  walking  up  and  down 
life’s  paths  in  company  with  his  loving  Lord.  Without  some 
realization  of  God’s  personality,  the  understanding  can  not 
approach  him  as  the  object  of  worship,  faith  is  compelled  to 
voyage  in  an  objectless  universe  as  in  an  infinite  vacuity,  and 
piety  is  left  to  pine  in  an  atmosphere  too  subtle  and  unsubstantial 
for  it  to  breathe  in. 

Conscience,  also,  tells  us  of  the  existence,  not  of  a  mysterious 
u  It,”  but  of  a  Supreme  “  Him.”  This  is  not  a  personal  rule,  a 
generalization  of  experience,  or  an  apprehension  of  con¬ 
sequences.  All  of  us  are  conscious  of  a  personal  authority  to 


6 


whom  we  owe  obedience.  Conscience  itself  is  not  this  author¬ 
ity,  but  the  consciousness  of  it.  Nor  is  this  personal  authority 
our  fellow-men,  for  we  are  as  conscious  of  it  in  the  heart  of 
the  desert  as  in  the  streets  of  Lake  Forest.  It  cannot  be  our¬ 
selves,  for  that  would  be  absurd,  as  is  shown  by  Shakespeare 
in  the  words, — 

“  I  had  as  lief  not  be,  as  live  to  be 
In  awe  of  such  a  thing  as  I  myself.” 

It  is  none  other  than  the  Supreme  Ruler  of  the  universe. 

There  is  no  foundation  to  any  religion,  however  glowing  its 
doctrines,  exalted  its  precepts,  or  sublime  its  promises,  without 
a  recognition  of  the  personality  of  the  object  of  its  worship. 
This  does  away  forever  with  the  allegation,  that  natural 
religion  is  satisfying  to  the  soul.  The  Greeks  had  all  that 
nature  could  teach  and  human  wisdom  suggest,  and  yet  they 
were  without  hope  and  without  God  in  the  world. 

This  personal  God  is  set  forth  in  the  text  as  the  maker  of  the 
stars,  thus  identifying  the  object  of  our  religious  worship  with 
the  Creator  of  the  ends  of  the  earth.  This  is  claiming  for  him 
the  highest  prerogative  of  which  the  human  mind  is  able  to 
form  any  conception.  Creation  so  far  transcends  the  grasp  of 
reason,  that  philosophy  untaught  by  revelation  has  been  com¬ 
pelled  in  every  age  to  postulate  the  eternity  of  matter.  It  can 
be  grasped  only  as  an  ultimate  fact  on  God’s  testimony.  By 
this,  is  not  meant  that  it  must  not  be  accepted  just  as  truly  by 
our  science  as  by  our  religion.  The  former,  no  less  than  the 
latter,  is  constrained  to  assume  the  original  creation  of  that  very 
matter  whose  properties  form  its  materials  of  research. 
Science  is  indebted  to  religion  for  the  primary  fact  which  of 
itself  it  cannot  explore,  and  which  forms  the  ring-bolt  connect¬ 
ing  all  phenomena  with  the  first  cause  of  their  existence. 

This  Creator  is  represented  as  omnipotent  and  infinitely  wise. 
Power  and  wisdom  are  taught  by  many  to  be  mere  names  for 
two  ideally  distinguishable,  but  really  inseparable,  aspects  of 
one  reality.  This  becomes  evident,  as  we  contemplate  the 


7 


vastness  of  the  stars  and  the  complexity  of  their  motions. 
Through  Lord  Ross’s  telescope  the  astronomer  discovers 
numberless  stars  varying,  in  size,  density,  and  motion.  He 
finds  that  some  of  them  are  hundreds  of  miles  in  extent,  and 
others  hundreds  of  thousands  of  miles,  and  still  others  contain¬ 
ing  more  than  eight  hundred  times  as  much  matter  as  all  the 
rest  of  the  planetary  system.  These  are  more  than  great  masses 
of  matter  which  bear  their  testimony  to  the  Creator’s  power. 
They  are  also  wisely  grouped  together  for  some  wise  purpose. 
Many  of  them  have  atmospheres  and  seas  and  many  have 
neither.  Some  career  through  space,  belted  with  equatorial 
rings  and  accompanied  by  one  or  more  satellites.  They  have 
their  different  densities — one  as  lead,  another  as  cork,  and  still 
another  as  vapor.  Alcyone,  the  center  of  the  Pleiades,  shines 
with  a  force  of  twelve  thousand  suns.  Even  these  suns  are 
combined  again  into  systems  of  all  sizes  and  shapes  — 
“  Systems,”  says  another,  “  of  two,  of  three,  of  many,  of  mill¬ 
ions — firmaments  which,  under  the  name  of  nebulae,  are  the  last 
generalization  and  most  stupendous  variety  of  modern  discovery  ; 
sometimes  rolled  up  into  spheres;  sometimes  gathered  into 
circular  or  ecliptic  rings;  now  fan-shaped;  now  like  an  hour 
glass;  now  broad  wheels  of  compacted  suns,  large,  glittering, 
and  sublime  enough  to  under-roll  the  chariot  of  Jehovah.” 

The  object  of  the  Christian  religion  is  further  set  forth  as 
infinitely  good.  The  reference  made  in  the  text  to  the  Pleiades 
and  Orion  was  intended  primarily  to  set  forth  in  figures  familiar 
to  the  persons  addressed  this  very  goodness.  The  stars  named 
were  supposed  to  exercise  a  powerful  influence  over  the  present 
condition  and  future  destiny  of  the  nations.  The  one  constella¬ 
tion  rising,  as  it  did,  in  the  spring  of  the  year,  when  all  nature 
burst  into  life,  emitting  sweet  influences  from  every  blade,  and 
shrub,  and  tree;  and  the  other  rising  in  the  fall,  when  nature 
bound  up  the  fountains  of  life  and  chilled  the  sweet  fragrance  of 
ripening  fruit  in  the  cold  hand  of  frost, — were  regarded  by  the 
ancients  as  having  the  government  of  these  two  important 
seasons  of  the  year — being  the  gods  appointed  to  preside  over 


8 


them.  Hence,  the  exhortation  of  the  prophet,  “Seek  him  that 
maketh  the  seven  stars  and  Orion.” 

The  superiority  of  the  Christian  religion  is  seen,  secondly,  in 
the  doctrines  it  offers  for  belief.  An  impartial  examination  will 
convince  any  one  that  these  are  vastly  superior  to  the  noblest 
doctrines  of  any  other  religion  or  of  all  other  religions  com¬ 
bined.  The  first  one,  fundamental  to  every  religion,  is  that 
concerning  the  character  of  the  Supreme  Being.  This  casts 
its  hues  over  all  the  others.  Of  the  false  religions,  that  of 
Zoroaster  is  supposed  to  present  the  most  exalted  view  of  the 
Deity.  It  tells  that  he  is  the  supporter  of  the  universe  and  the 
promoter  of  life;  the  creator  of  truth  and  the  maker  of  the 
stars;  the  begetter  of  light  and  darkness;  and  the  caller  forth 
of  mornings,  noons,  and  nights.  This  contains,  after  all,  only 
what  can  be  found  in  the  teachings  of  natural  religion. 

The  Christian  religion  teaches  in  addition  to  this,  that  the 
Supreme  Being  is  a  pure  spirit,  thus  lifting  him  above  the 
conceptions  formed  of  every  other  object  of  worship.  He  is 
said  to  be  a  spirit  everywhere  present — filling  all  space,  pervad¬ 
ing  all  minds,  and  penetrating  all  substances.  The  following 
sentences  from  the  pen  of  the  Psalmist  have  no  parallel  in  the 
teachings  of  any  heathen  religion:  “  Whither  shall  I  go  from 
thy  spirit?  or  whither  shall  I  flee  from  thy  presence?  If  I 
ascend  up  into  heaven,  thou  art  there;  if  I  make  my  bed  in  hell, 
behold  thou  art  there.”  This  pure  and  omnipresent  spirit  is 
further  set  forth  as  subsisting  in  three  persons;  each  one  of 
them  holding  a  peculiar  relation  to  the  creation  of  the  world, 
the  redemption  of  man,  and  the  preparation  of  the  heavenly 
mansions.  There  is  no  resemblance  between  this  doctrine  and 
the  triad,  or  the  personification  of  fire,  storm,  and  sunlight  of 
Brahminism.  The  Trinity  of  the  Christian  religion  constitutes 
one  great  God  who  is  actively  engaged  in  all  parts  of  the 
universe,  marking  the  pathways  of  planets  and  directing  the  fall 
of  a  sparrow,  accompanying  the  pilgrim  in  his  journey  and 
guiding  Arcturus  with  his  sons. 


9 


The  second  doctrine  fundamental  to  all  religions,  is  the 
creature’s  responsibility  to  the  Creator.  Upon  this  are  depen¬ 
dent  all  morals.  Of  the  false  religions,  Brahminism  may  be 
said  to  hold  the  highest  views  of  personal  responsibility,  and  yet 
some  of  the  figures  it  employs  sweep  it  all  away.  They  teach 
that  men’s  souls  are  emanations  from  the  universal,  self-existent 
soul,  sparks  from  the  great  central  fire — separated  for  a  time, 
but  to  be  absorbed  at  last.  They  describe  their  lives  and  actions 
as  the  illusory  phantoms  and  appearances  which  a  conjurer  calls 
up,  and  a  gaping  crowd,  mistakes  for  realities. 

All  this  sounds  like  the  wild  fancies  of  a  dreamer  by  the  side 
of  the  Christian  doctrine  of  personal  responsibility.  Through¬ 
out  the  whole  Bible,  equity  and  sovereignty  run  in  parallel 
lines,  each  standing  abreast  of  the  other,  and  both  indicating 
the  ways  of  God  to  man, — both  forming  a  part  of  the  adorn¬ 
ment  and  the  strength  of  the  divine  empire.  Out  of  these 
spring  the  truths  that  men  are  dependent,  yet  free;  acting,  yet 
acted  upon;  fulfilling  the  divine  purposes,  yet  responsible  for 
every  thought,  word,  and  action. 

The  third  doctrine  lying  at  the  foundation  of  all  religion,  is 
the  way  in  which  those  who  have  violated  God’s  law  can  be 
justified.  Men  everywhere  feel  that  they  are  transgressors  of 
law  and  in  need  of  being  reconciled  to  God.  The  false  religion 
which  has  given  the  most  satisfactory  answer  to  this  question, 
is  that  of  Zoroaster.  It  tells  its  adherents  that,  in  order  to 
secure  the  good  will  of  the  offended  deity,  they  must  repent  of 
all  wicked  thoughts,  words  and  deeds;  of  all  sins  against 
kindred,  superiors,  and  neighbors;  and  of  all  pride,  haughtiness, 
and  anger.  This,  again,  does  not  satisfy  the  demands  of 
conscience,  for  even  unaided  reason  affirms  that  repentance, 
however  deep  and  full,  is  not  able  to  replace  things  as  they 
were,  repair  wasted  fortunes,  recruit  broken  constitutions,  or 
raise  the  murdered  dead. 

That  which  natural  religion  could  not  do,  Christianity  has 
accomplished.  It  not  only  demands  penitence  and  reformation, 
but  it  has  also  provided  a  ransom.  It  reveals  a  scheme  of 


IO 


redemption  which  human  ingenuit}'  has  never  been  able  to 
discover.  It  tells  us  of  God  taking  upon  him  the  nature  of  the 
violators  of  his  law,  in  order  to  endure  its  malediction  in  their 
behalf.  This  appearance  of  God  in  the  flesh  is  not  like  the 
vulgar  incarnation  of  heathen  deities,  but  one  of  the  grandest 
doctrines  of  the  ages.  The  only  begotten  Son  was  spotless  and 
pure — a  lamb  without  blemish.  He  was  unlike  any  other  being 
seen  by  men  or  angels,  and  unlike  every  ideal  ever  conceived  by 
poets  or  philosophers.  This  holy  and  harmless  one  came  not 
to  reign,  not  to  be  worshiped,  but  to  suffer — to  die!  It  was  to 
die  the  just  for  the  unjust — the  sinless  for  the  sinful — the 
substitution  of  the  innocent  for  the  guilty.  He  submitted 
himself  to  the  penalty  which  men  had  incurred,  and  “bore  their 
sins  in  his  own  body  on  the  tree.” 

The  other  great  doctrine  fundamental  to  all  religions,  is  the 
soul’s  immortality.  In  spite  of  the  loud  cry  of  annihilation  by 
the  followers  of  Sadoc  and  Epicurus,  the  millions  of  earth  have 
ever  rejoiced  in  the  hope  of  immortality.  The  reasoning  of 
the  philosopher,  the  traditions  of  the  historian,  the  fables  of  the 
poet,  and  fancies  of  the  mythologist,  are  full  of  the  belief  that 
men  shall  live  beyond  the  present  world.  They  have  founded 
this  belief  on  the  spirituality  of  the  soul,  the  excellency  of  its 
powers,  its  capacity  for  continued  progress,  its  natural  desire 
for  an  endless  existence,  the  universal  belief  of  mankind,  and 
the  need  of  a  future  life  to  rectify  the  inequalities  of  earth. 
Notwithstanding  these  strong  intimations  of  a  future  life,  the 
nations  have  derived  but  little  satisfaction  from  the  teachings  of 
their  religion  in  regard  to  its  character.  It  is  alleged  that  the 
religion  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  sheds  the  clearest  light  upon 
this  subject.  “  The  very  architecture  of  the  Pyramids,”  says 
some  one,  “had  its  creed;  their  massiveness  produced  the 
conviction  upon  all  who  witnessed  it,  that  their  builders  hoped 
to  live  forever;  the  lotus  flower  opening  with  Ihe  early  sun, 
and  the  sphinx  rising  from  its  ashes,  taught  more  beautifully 
than  any  formulated  dogmas  the  resurrection  of  the  body;  the 
embalming  of  their  dead,  carefully  wrapped  in  spice  to  ward 


off  the  tooth  of  time,  implied  a  belief  in  the  reanimation  of  the 
lifeless  clay.”  With  all  this,  the  greatest  of  the  Greeks,  with 
the  hemlock  poison  at  his  lips,  said  to  his  weeping  friends,  u  I 
take  comfort  in  the  hope  that  something  remains  of  man  after 
death.”  How  sad!  Even  Socrates  could  take  only  comfort  in 
the  hope  that  something  remained  after  death.  Poor  comfort 
for  a  dying  man!  The  Prince  of  Denmark  is  represented  as 
reducing  the  doctrine  of  the  soul’s  destiny  into  a  question  that 
cannot  be  answered, — “  To  be  or  not  to  be,  that  is  the  question.” 
Hadrian  put  it  thus  in  his  dying  exclamation:  uO  my  poor, 
wandering  soul,  whither  art  thou  going?  Where  must  thou 
lodge  this  night?  Thou  shalt  never  jest  any  more,  nor  be 
merry  any  more.”  Life  and  immortality  were  brought  to  light 
by  the  Gospel.  It  alone  has  lifted  the  fogs  of  centuries,  and 
given  to  all  true  believers  a  glimpse  of  the  land  that  is  afar  off. 
It  tells  them  of  a  light  in  the  valley,  of  assistance  in  the  struggle 
with  death,  and  of  a  welcome  on  the  other  shore  by  a  multi¬ 
tude  which  no  man  can  number. 

The  superiority  of  the  Christian  religion  is  seen,  thirdly,  in 
the  transformation  it  produces  in  the  character  of  its  subjects. 
As  soon  as  its  doctrines  find  lodgment  in  the  heart,  the  most 
depraved  life  becomes  pure  and  elevated.  Numberless  ex¬ 
amples  of  this  may  be  cited,  but  one  will  suffice.  Take  that  of 
the  poor  man  who  was  possessed  with  a  devil — dwelling  among 
the  tombs.  Before  he  was  touched  by  the  power  of  the 
Gospel,  he  was  a  terror  to  his  family  and  a  plague  to  the  peo¬ 
ple  of  Gadara.  But  under  the  benign  influences  of  Christianity, 
he  broke  away  from  the  power  of  Satan,  and  came  in  his  right 
mind  to  the  feet  of  Jesus.  From  that  time  forth,  he  who  had 
walked  in  lone  places  in  the  wilderness,  a  terror  to  his  friends, 
whom  fetters  could  not  bind  nor  dungeon  restrain,  whose 
dwelling  was  in  the  tombs,  and  whose  life  was  self-torture, 
appeared  a  peaceful  man  of  God. 

The  Christian  religion  not  only  transforms  individual  life,  but 
it  also  reconstructs  the  most  disorderly  households.  It  has 
turned  scenes  of  riot  and  dwelling-places  of  crime  into  asylums 


of  love  and  circles  of  affection.  It  has  converted  many  a  father, 
the  fruit  of  whose  toil  has  been  laid  on  the  altar  of  Bacchus 
instead  of  being  devoted  to  feeding  and  clothing  the  little 
immortals  committed  to  his  care,  and  many  a  mother  who  has 
borne  a  greater  resemblance  to  a  tigress  than  to  one  who  is  the 
mother  of  children,  into  loving  parents  who  have  turned  their 
dwelling-place  of  revelry  into  a  happy  home  in  which  dwell 
order,  peace,  purity  and  thrift — monuments  more  telling  than 
sculptured  statues  of  the  superhuman  power  of  the  Gospel. 

The  power  of  the  Christian  religion  is  seen  sometimes  in  the 
elevation  of  a  whole  nation.  “  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States  have  been  made  by  it  what  they  are,”  in  the  words  of 
another,  “  out  of  such  unpromising  stuff  as  the  wild  Norsemen 
of  a  thousand  years  ago.  It  has  filled  these  lands  with  schools 
and  colleges,  with  humane  and  charitable  institutions,  with  public 
economies  and  private  good,  to  be  found  nowhere  else  on  the 
globe.  Even  heathen  nations  are  beginning  to  shine  under  the 
same  mighty  power.  Christianity  is  commencing  to  do  for 
them  what  ages  ago  she  did  for  the  old  Roman  world. 
She  found  that  world  a  cancer.  Its  gods  were  personified 
vices,  its  temples  were  brothels,  its  women  were  almost  slaves, 
its  slaves  were  ill-used  cattle,  and  its  very  amusements  were 
brutal  cruelties.  Christ’s  religion  changed  it  all.  She  renewed 
to  its  center  the  standard  of  morals.  Women  rose  in  the  scale 
of  being.  Slavery  disappeared.  The  vile  deities,  and  their 
viler  worship  were  cast  to  the  moles  and  the  bats.  The  weak 
and  the  oppressed  found  a  friend  able  and  willing  to  shield  them 
from  the  oppressor.  Gladiatorial  shows  and  Eleusinian 
mysteries,  and  temples  polluted  with  Bacchus  and  Venus,  gave 
way  to  pure  sanctuaries,  and  a  society  based  on  the  Decalogue 
and  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.” 

The  power  of  the  Christian  religion  is  not  limited  to  nations; 
it  is  not  confined  to  latitudes  and  longitudes,  to  mental  states  or 
physical  conditions.  It  is  universal — exerting  its  influence  over 
the  Laplander  amid  the  gloom  of  Arctic  winters;  over  the 
luxuriant  Asiatic,  as  he  revels  in  his  sensuous  paradise;  over  the 


r3 


Brahmin  and  the  Buddhist  devotee  ranked,  in  his  own  conceit, 
among  the  gods;  over  the  Jew  still  glorying  in  his  ancestors^ 
and  over  the  Greek  speculating  to  this  day  on  the  mysteries  of 
creation.  Where  is  there  another  religion  that  has  wrought 
changes  like  these  in  individuals,  in  homes,  and  among  nations?*' 

The  superiority  of  the  Christian  religion  is  seen,  lastly,  in  the 
position  to  which  it  lifts  its  subjects  in  the  future.  In  this 
regard,  it  differs  from  all  other  religions.  Buddhism  has  its 
heaven,  which  it  names  “The  other  side  of  the  ocean  of  exis¬ 
tence,”  “  the  eternal  place,”  and  “  the  harbor  of  never-ending 
rest;”  but  underneath  these  sweet  and  almost  scriptural  terms, 
lies  the  undeniable  fact,  that  all  of  them  combined  imply  no 
more  than  non-existence.  Its  very  founder  pronounced  the 
eternity  of  the  soul  a  great  heresy,  and  it  was  not  an  unguarded 
expression,  but  a  necessary  sequence  of  his  philosophy.  For  in 
it,  he  affirms  that  there  is  nothing  in  life  but  sorrow;  that  all  of 
it  is  void  and  perishable;  that  to  be  is  pain,  and  that  not  to  be  is 
everlasting  rest.  According  to  this,  futurity  is  a  blank,  and 
what  is  termed  the  looked-for  rest  of  the  soul  in  heaven,  is 
annihilation. 

The  religion  of  ancient  Egypt  also  taught  the  immortality 
of  the  soul,  and  the  endless  joy  of  men  beyond  the  temptations 
and  trials  of  earth,  but  it  has  degraded  both  by  depicting  the 
souls  of  the  departed  as  eating  and  drinking,  sowing  and  reap¬ 
ing.  Gathering  their  sheaves  and  laying  them  up  in  store¬ 
houses.  According  to  its  teaching  the  mission  of  men  in 
heaven  is  to  cultivate  fields,  and  the  life  everlasting  is  to  consist 
in  securing  enough  material  good  to  meet  the  necessities  of  the 
body.  This  falls  infinitely  short  of  answering  the  deep  ques¬ 
tions  of  man’s  nature. 

Brahminism,  in  like  manner,  holds  to  the  immortality  of  the 
soul,  but  not  in  ever-conscious  being.  It  teaches  that  conscious¬ 
ness  ceases  when  the  soul  quits  its  clay.  The  highest  hope 
which  the  devotees  of  this  religion  are  able  to  entertain  is,  that 
they  will  be  allowed  to  pass  with  all  possible  haste  from  one 
form  of  life  to  another,  until  they  are  at  length  absorbed  into 


H 


/  Y  N 

that  infinite  Nothing  known  as  Brahm,  or  the  all-pervading 
spirit.  This  doctrine  does  violence  to  the  strongest  instincts  of 
the  soul  and  blights  all  hope  of  happiness  beyond  the  grave. 

Other  religions  teach  that,  in  the  future,  men  are  to  be  trans¬ 
formed  into  gods.  They  represent  them  as  being  altogether 
separated  from  their  humble  orign  and  earthly  conflicts.  They 
are  not  allowed  to  cast  a  backward  glance  or  to  recall  any  of 
their  days  of  humiliation.  This  is  an  abolition  of  true  immor¬ 
tality,  for  it  destroys  the  continuity  of  the  soul’s  experience  with 
its  consciousness  and  memory. 

How  different  is  the  teaching  of  the  Christian  religion!  It 
assures  us  that  death  is  not  the  end  of  us;  that  the  soul,  after 
leaving  the  body,  is  not  absorbed  into  the  Infinite,  or  changed 
into  a  god ;  but  that  it  is  then  on  the  eve  of  its  highest  attain¬ 
ment,  and  in  sight  of  the  realization  of  its  noblest  hopes.  Death 
is  the  date  of  immortality,  when  it  is  permitted  to  lay  hold  of 
faith’s  fruition.  The  day  that  separates  the  soul  from  the  body, 
is  the  day  that  marks  the  former’s  triumph.  It  is  to  partake  in 
no  sense  in  the  destruction  of  the  body,  but  is  to  emerge  from  it. 
It  quits  it  in  order  to  live  and  act  separately.  At  death  it  enters 
into  new  relations  and  higher  joys.  It  is  to  continue  to  ascend 
forever,  but  with  full  consciousness  of  being  in  all  its  changes 
the  same  soul,  and  with  a  clear  recollection  of  all  the  leagues  it 
has  passed  over.  Thus,  the  present  and  the  future  are  to  be 
linked  together  by  consciousness,  and  the  day  of  our  humiliation 
on  earth  is  to  be  united  by  memory  to  the  day  of  our  exaltation 
in  heaven.  We  shall  continue  to  be  ourselves  forever,  and  our 
friends  will  remain  our  friends  through  all  eternity. 

Thus,  according  to  the  teaching  of  the  Christian  religion,  the 
life  of  heaven  is  a  continuation  of  the  higher  life  of  the  soul  on 
earth,  but  under  clearer  skies  and  amid  more  favorable  circum¬ 
stances.  Instead  of  being  made  gods,  the  saints  are  to  be 
transformed  intellectually  into  the  image  of  him  who  maketh  the 
seven  stars  and  Orion.  Nothing  can  be  higher  than  this 
without  destroying  personal  identity.  Man  is  to  grow  forever 
more  and  more  like  God  in  his  intellectual  grasp  and  power. 


His  thoughts  in  heaven  are  to  become  as  God’s  thoughts — 
true,  not  with  respect  to  some  end  or  standard  which  he  does 
not  approve,  but  true  with  the  absolute  truthfulness  which 
conformity  to  his  judgment  involves.  The  affections  occupy  a 
still  more  central  place  than  the  intellect.  Hence  the  true  man 
in  life  as  well  as  in  God  is  not  knowledge,  but  love.  Infinite  as 
is  the  Divine  heart,  love  fills  it  all.  And,  what  a  love  it  is — a 
love  that  led  him  to  give  his  only  begotten  Son  to  die  for  ust 
Even  that  love  is  to  be  feebly  reflected  by  the  redeemed  in 
heaven.  Man  is  also  endowed  with  a  will,  which  has  power  to 
act  from  within  in  determining  its  course  of  conduct,  and  hence 
to  reflect  the  divine  will  in  a  way  not  possible  to  suns  and  stars. 
The  will  of  God  may  not  be  clearly  reflected  by  that  of  man, 
because  it  is  infinitely  superior  to  it  in  its  power,  freedom,  and 
sway.  He  is  the  source  of  all  created  existence,  supporter  and 
ruler  of  all  rational  and  irrational  beings;  it  cannot  be  con¬ 
strained  or  baffled,  tempted  or  misled.  It  is  its  own  law.  Still 
even  the  will  of  man  will  some  day  form  at  least  a  dim 
reflection  of  the  infinite  will. 

Saints  in  glory  are  to  be  assimilated  to  God,  not  only  in 
intellect,  but  also  in  character.  They  are  to  be  transformed 
into  his  blessed  image.  This  has  no  reference  to  bodily 
properties  or  to  physical  tendencies.  Hence,  we  need  not  be 
alarmed  at  the  denial  on  the  part  of  scientists  of  certain  distinct¬ 
ions  hitherto  supposed  to  exist  between  the  bodies  of  men  and 
those  of  beasts.  The  transformation  is  to  take  place  in  our 
spiritual  nature.  As  the  sun  photographs  itself  on  the  sensitive 
plate  exposed  to  its  light,  and  a  likeness  of  it  is  secured  by  laying 
the  object  in  its  beams,  so  the  likeness  of  God  is  to  be  photo¬ 
graphed  upon  the  saints  in  heaven  by  their  basking  forever  in 
the  light  of  his  countenance. 

The  redeemed  in  heaven  are  once  more  to  be  made  God’s 
associates.  “The  secret  of  the  Lord  is  with  them  that  fear 
him.”  In  this  sentence  is  found  one  of  the  most  expressive 
Bible  figures.  It  is  that  of  two  or  more  persons  sitting  together 
after  the  Oriental  fashion.  According  to  this  they  occupy  the 


same  divan,  holding  close  council  in  regard  to  important 
interests.  Thus,  the  Creator  of  the  stars,  and  sinful  men  are  to 
be  seen  sitting,  apparently  on  equality,  to  consult  concerning 
the  high  interests  of  the  heavenly  kingdom.  This  might  be 
regarded  as  Oriental  exaggeration,  if  the  didactic  system  of  the 
New  Testament  did  not  agree  with  it.  “  If  a  man  love  me,  he 
will  keep  my  words:  and  my  father  will  love  him,  and  we  will 
come  unto  him  and  make  our  abode  with  him.”  And,  in 
another  place,  u  I  will  come  in  to  him,  and  will  sup  with  him, 
and  he  with  me.”  No  greater  intimacy  than  this  can  be 
conceived ! 

Officially,  the  saints  are  to  be  sharers  of  his  kingly  sway. 
They  are  to  be  the  judges  of  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel.  This 
is  high,  we  cannot  attain  unto  it.  The  mind  grows  dizzy  in  its 
contemplation!  It  is  wrapped  in  mystery  inpenetrable !  We 
are  not  told  what  these  thrones  are,  or  where  they  are  to  be 
erected.  Only  the  fact  is  revealed  to  us,  that  the  redeemed  are 
some  day  to  be  partakers  of  God’s  universal  dominion.  Even 
on  earth,  they  are  princes  nominated  and  anointed  for  immortal 
regencies;  palms  and  robes,  crowns  and  sceptres,  being  re¬ 
served  for  them  in  heaven.  Now  are  they  able  to  boast  of 
royal  blood,  and  of  ability  to  wield  a  power  which  all  the 
potencies  of  earth  and  hell  cannot  withstand.  In  heaven,  this 
power  will  be  enlarged.  To  what  extent,  we  are  not  told. 
Upon  what  untried  forms  of  happy  being  they  are  to  enter, 
in  what  cycles  of  revolving  bliss  they  are  to  turn,  what  sceptres 
they  are  to  wield  amid  the  sublimities  of  eternity,  what 
streams  of  ascending  influence  they  are  to  originate,  and  what 
authority  they  are  to  exercise  over  realms  as  yet  unvisited  by 
men  or  angels,  we  know  not  now,  but  we  shall  know  hereafter. 


I  wish  to  say  a  few  words  in  conclusion  to  you,  my  young 
friends,  of  the  graduating  classes.  I  have  endeavored  as  I 
advanced,  to  impress  upon  your  minds  the  lessons  of  the  text, 


l7 


and  yet  there  are  two  or  three  inferences  to  be  drawn  from  the 
treatment  of  the  subject  to  which  I  desire  to  call  your  further 
attention. 

First,  the  identity  of  the  maker  of  the  seven  stars  with  the 
giver  of  the  Christian  Revelation  does  away  with  all  possible 
conflict  between  the  discoveries  of  science  and  the  teachings  of 
revelation.  If  the  Being  who  determined  the  form,  the  magni¬ 
tude,  and  the  motions  of  Orion,  inspired  Moses,  Isaiah,  and 
Paul,  to  write  the  Pentateuch,  the  prophecies,  and  the  evan¬ 
gelical  epistles,  they  must  agree  in  their  teachings.  That  there 
is  a  seeming  conflict  between  some  of  them,  and  that  the 
advocates  of  each  have  erred  by  hastiness,  and  zeal  not 
according  to  knowledge,  no  one  will  undertake  to  deny. 
Scientists  have  often  drawn  their  conclusions  before  they  had 
adequate  data  for  so  doing,  and  over  zealous  Bible-lovers  have 
at  times  confounded  what  is  said  in  God’s  Word  with  the  con¬ 
struction  which  commentators  have  put  upon  it.  If  both 
parties  had  pursued  their  investigation  on  the  presumption  that 
nature  and  revelation  were  equally  the  work  of  Jehovah,  and 
that  he,  as  an  all-wise  being  could  not  contradict  himself,  it 
would  have  saved  useless  discussion  and  yielded  richer  results. 
Let  me  urge  upon  you  the  doing  of  this  very  thing  in  your 
future  work.  Assume  at  every  step  that  the  teachings  of 
nature  and  the  principles  of  religion  agree,  though  as  yet  the 
harmony  may  not  be  clear.  Aim  at  reaching  that  end,  and  not 
as  showing  that  they  cannot  be  made  to  agree.  As  religion  is 
older  than  science,  and  its  doctrines  are  better  tested,  rest  in  her 
teachings,  until  they  are  actually  overturned  by  well-established 
truths  of  science.  Do  not  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
Bible  is  wrong,  until  you  have  used  all  possible  means  to  bring 
them  into  harmony  by  a  reconsideration  of  their  connection  and 
meaning. 

Secondly,  the  incomparable  superiority  of  the  Christian 
religion  to  all  others  shows  that  it  is  not  one  of  many,  but  the 
only  true  one.  That  the  others  had  many  pure  doctrines  and 


j8 


precious  precepts,  no  one  will  deny.  It  would  be  strange  if  it 
were  not  so.  For  most  of  them  are  largely  based  upon  the 
teachings  of  nature  and  the  principles  implanted  by  God  in  the 
human  constitution.  More  than  one  has  borrowed  its  sublimest 
principles  and  purest  precepts  from  the  Divine  revelation  and 
the  history  of  God’s  chosen  people.  This  is  true,  perhaps,  of 
the  Egyptian,  the  Greek,  the  Roman,  and  especially  of  the 
Mahomedan,  religions.  It  is  unfair,  therefore,  to  point  to  the 
principles  borrowed  by  the  false  religions  from  the  true,  as 
evidence  of  their  equality  with  those  of  Christianity.  Enter 
upon  the  world’s  cares  and  duties  with  unshaken  conviction 
that  there  is  but  one  true  religion — one  only  that  can  meet 
all  your  wants,  aid  you  in  all  your  trials,  strengthen  you  in  all 
your  hopes,  satisfy  all  your  longings,  and  assist  you  in  bearing 
all  life’s  burdens. 

The  fact,  that  the  two  revelations  have  been  given  for 
man’s  well-being,  teaches,  further,  that  there  is  no  reason  for 
the  discontinuance  of  the  one  more  than  there  is  for  that  of  the 
other.  As  long  as  man’s  physical  nature  continues  what  it  has 
been  from  the  beginning,  the  material  world  must  remain 
essentially  the  same.  By  parity  of  reasoning,  religion  must 
continue  as  long  as  man’s  moral  and  spiritual  nature  remains  the 
same.  Human  nature,  in  all  its  essential  characteristics,  is  the 
same  as  when  man  went  out  of  Paradise.  From  aught  we  can 
see,  it  is  bound  to  continue  the  same.  The  sense  of  sin  and  guilt 
will  be  felt  in  ages  to  come,  as  it  has  been  felt  in  ages  gone  by. 
In  all  his  future  history  it  will  follow  man  like  his  shadow. 
Not  only  the  essential  characteristics  of  human  nature  will  con¬ 
tinue  the  same,  but  the  active  busy  mind  will  continue  to  ask  the 
same  questions  regarding  the  mysteries  of  life.  In  the  future  as 
in  the  past,  it  will  inquire,  “  What  manner  of  being  is  God? 
Whence  came  man,  and  whither  goes  he  when  he  is  done  with 
earth?”  Nothing  will  be  able  to  answer  these  questions  but  the 
Scriptures.  Go  forth,  then,  to  your  respective  fields  of  labor, 
with  the  determination  to  carry  with  you  everywhere  the  scien- 


l9 


tific  principles  with  which  you  have  been  made  familiar,  and 
the  fundamental  doctrines  of  our  holy  religion  in  which  you  have 
been  drilled.  Exhibit  the  former  in  the  skill  with  which  you 
will  perform  the  duties  of  your  profession,  and  the  latter  in  the 
noble  Christian  life  which  you  will  lead.  “  Let  your  light  so 
shine  before  men  that  they  may  see  your  good  works,  and 
glorify  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven.” 


' 


•»] 


3  0112  10565666 


